About the UWAA

ASLD

The Alumnus Summa Laude Dignatus Award (ASLD) is the highest honor bestowed upon a University of Washington graduate and is presented annually by the UW and UW Alumni Association. It recognizes a legacy of achievement and service built over a lifetime. Since its inception in 1938, more than 80 alumni who personify the University’s tradition of excellence have received this prestigious honor. Nominations are open to the public. See below.

More than 70 alumni who personify the University’s tradition of excellence have received this prestigious honor since the award was inaugurated in 1938. The list includes Nobel Prize winners, internationally-recognized scientists, artists, business leaders, educators and many other influential figures.

2023. Marilynne Robinson, ’77 – Since Robinson earned her Ph.D. at the UW in 1977, she has become one of the world’s premier fiction writers. A Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Library of Congress Award for Fiction are among her many honors. Yet fiction is just one facet of Robinson’s work. She teaches, writes nonfiction books and essays, and is an esteemed contributor to public discourse on ideas and events. In 2016, Time magazine named her one of its 100 Most Influential People.


Past ASLD recipients

Selection criteria

How to nominate

Nomination form

Fill out my online form.